( 3rd February 2024 )
Continuing on the imageries of the Holy Spirit
■ Imagery: Rain
●Zachariah 10: 1
Ask the Lord for rain
In the time of the *latter rain,. The Lord will make flashing clouds;
He will give them showers of rain,Grass in the field for everyone.
●In Israel, the first season of 🌧 rain occurs in the initial months of their new year, which starts in October ,
This rain is called Yoreh in the Hebrew language or former rain.
● They would sow seeds after they receive Yoreh .
● The second or latter rain is called Malkosh.
■On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 , the people in the upper room received the 1st (former) rain of the Holy Spirit !
●The present time ( when the Azusa Street revival and many other such revivals happened around the world) is called the latter rain season .
or the “second pentacost” !
■■ We know that rain on earth happens as a result of a cycle that is scientifically referred to as the “hydrological cycle”
●Deuteronomy 11:13
And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’
●If you obey God’s commandments, you will receive both the former and latter rain
●You will produce
●The latter and former rains cause wheat, barley, figs , grapes 🍇, pomegranate , 🫒 olives to be produced
●If it rains 🌧 in the right season, they will ultimately have new wine and new oil .
● There will be abundance due to the rain
●The 🌧 rain will cause the grass in your fields to grow ,and this will, in turn, support your livestock ,which will graze on them and be nourished.
●Similarly, when you have the Holy Spirit, you will be satisfied with spiritual blessings
●Your life will be blessed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit
■ Joel 2:23
The fig tree and the wine yield their strength
23 Be glad then, you children of Zion,And rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the former rain faithfully,
And He will cause the rain to come down for you—The former rain,And the latter rain in the first month.
24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
● You will experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit
●Verse 26 says you have abundance
●You will be satisfied
●and you will have Honour
(You will never be put to shame)
●●Joel 2:28 says about the results of receiving rain in the right season!
●The result will be spiritual gifting
●Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,Your old men shall dream dreams.
●There will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit
●This prophesy of the outpouring in Joel 2:28 is fulfilled in Acts Chapter 2
●The prophet Joel prophesied about this almost 600 to 800 years before the day of Pentecost in Acts 2
●He saw what would happen in the Gospel Age !
●Peter stood up and preached based on this prophesy made by prophet Joel
■Today, we notice the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in abundance around the world
●This infact is a fulfillment of the prophesy that :
“Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams “
●● We live in a season which is infact the last season, ” the latter rain season
●now we need to pray and come close to God
■Ezikiel Chapter 34:26
I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.
●The natural hydrological cycle involves water present in the water bodies, like lakes ,rivers ,etc, evaporating , rising as water vapor in the air to form clouds and then rainfall comes down to water the earth
●This 🌧 rainfall makes the land fruitful and productive
●A similar cycle occurs in the unseen spiritual relam too
●When God causes His blessings to shine on a beliver
When the beliver receives a blessing from the Lord his heart will start praising the Lord , the praises will become spiritual clouds and then in turn these spiritual clouds start raining spiritual blessings on the beliver.
●Then you will start producing much in the Kingdom of God !
●You will live in the realm of God
●then you will always praise God
●When you praise , spiritual clouds are going to rain on you
●You will receive blessings and then you will become a blessing to many
●There is no lack in the Kingdom of God
●In the Kingdom of God :
1.You are called for a purpose
- You will produce
- You will have abundance
●1 Kings 18:41-46 speaks about abundance of rain
●Elijah’s prayer caused Israel to receive rain.
●1 Kings 18:45 refers to this rainfall as ” heavy rain “
verse 45 says : Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. This heavy rainfall is referred to as the ” abundance of rain “
●The Lord is faithful to give an abundance of spiritual rain to those who pray !